Extrusion mill assembly



Nov. 29, 1960 E. N. MEAKIN 2,961,700

EXTRUSION MILL ASSEMBLY Filed Sept. 5, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

EDGAR N. MEAKI/V HIS ATTORNEYS Nov. 29, 1960 E. N. MEAKIN EXTRUSION MILL ASSEMBLY 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 5, 1957 INVENTOR. EDGAR N. MEAKI/V HIS ATTORNEYS- United States Patent EXTRUSION MILL ASSEMBLY Edgar N. Meakin, 372 Roblar Ave., Hillsborough, Calif; Filed Sept! 5, 9 ;Se -v 2,243

3 Claims. ((11; 18-..-12)

My invention relates to extrusion mills and more par? ticularly to one for the pelleting of moldable material,

In pelleting material, it is oftendesired to pellet the same in small batches. Quite often this. is the case when experimenting to determine molding characteristics; of certain mixtures, or to determine. the nature of dies best suited for a particular material or mixture. To operate a large mill for the purpose of extruding a small batch of material, is both undesirable and uneeonomical. Among the objects. of the present. invention. are:

(1) To provide. a novel and improved'extrusion, mill.

(4) To provide a novel. and improved extrusion millassembly having a readily replaceable feed assembly;

(5). To provide a novel and improved extrusion mill assembly capable of being readily serviced; and

(6) To provide. a novel and improved extrusion mill assembly which is portable.

Additional objects ofmy invention will be brought out in the following description of a preferred embodiment of the same, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein; I

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of an extrusion mill assembly of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a view in section taken in the plane 2',-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view partly in section of the roller assembly of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the apparatus of Fig. 1'.

Referring to the drawings for details of my invention, the overall assembly involves a pellet mill 1; and feed mechanism 3 therefor.

The pellet mill comprises a die shaft housing 5 termi-- nating at one end in a flange 7, the housing being supported on base brackets 9 and constituting at the same time, the mill housing.

A die shaft 11 passing through the die shaft housing, is supported therein by suitable spaced thrust bearings 13, 15 and carries at that end adjacent the housing flange 7., a cylindrical or ring die 17 Which defines the extrusion chamber 19. By recessing the end of the shaft to which the die is aflixed, the extrusion chamber may be enlarged.

A cover 21 afiixed to the flange 7 and. enclosing the die. 17, forms a pellet chamber 23. around the. die, the cover being provided with a discharge opening 25 at the lower end thereof, for the discharge of pellets.

Preferably formed integral with the cover, is a roller shaft housing 2'7- extending therefrom inolfset relationl 2,951,700 Patented Nova 29,, 1.960.

. 2 the. roller shaft housing, thecover is provided with a feed opening 29 into thev extrusion chamber.

A roller shaft-31 passing through and. rotatable in the roller shaft housing, extends intoth'e extrusion chamber to provide a support fora rotatably mountedextrusi'on roller 33 of a radius suflici n to. bringit into close con-. tact with the inner or compression surface-of the die. The portion 35 of the shaft on which the roller is rotatably mounted, preferably has itsaxis offset with respect to the main axis of the shaft, whereby angular adjustment of the shaft, adjustment ot; the roller with; respect toth compression surface. ofthe. die maybe affected. To hold the roller shaft and. consequently the rollerin any position of adjustment, clamping means 37 are provided for the shaft. Such means. might include a pair of; opposing clamping blocksjiil, 411passing. through the wall of the roller shaft housingandihtoreontactwith an arcuate portion of the. roller, shaft Such blocks. will. have aligned passageways therethrough, with. one of the passageways threaded. A clamping bolt passing. through the un-- threaded passagewayand threaded into the other, will permit tighteningof. the clamping blocks against the shaftto preclude angular rotation thereof v untilthe, clamping bolt is subsequently unthreaded. to the point-of relieving the shaft of such clamping pressure,

Angular adjustmentof the haft. to afiect an adjustment to the roller with respect to the die, is facilitated by the provision of a. roller adjusting collar 47- on the end ofthe shaft adjacent the outer end of the shaft housing 27., a rectangular fitv between the adjusting collar, and the shaft precluding any rotational movement of the, collar. with. pec o the sha twhea ma in uch, adju tm n Longitudinal shift of the roller shaft, is precludedby. the, pp c ion of. sher and nut t e. xposed. nde shaft which will servev to draw the shaft and its-roller outwardly u t l ash u der Prov ded. on. the haft abuts the cover nd th po tions therqlle n Prop r alignme with the die.

With e ol er haft. th s m int ined St t on ry, the. die is caused to rotate by the application of power to the die shaft, and material to be extruded is, fed into the extrusion chamber through the feed. opening,

In accordance with the present invention, the introduction of material into the extrusion; chamber is accomplished by the feed means 3 which, is entirely independent of and not necessarily connected to the mill, and there: for may be readily disassociated therefrom. Such feed means includes a supply bin 53 having an end wall ,55 with an opening 57 therein at tlie elevation of the feed opening 29-. To this endwall is affixed a trough 59 in alignment with such opening, the free end' of the trough being adapted to enter the feed openingin the cover 21 or abut the cover around the opening. 7 v

A conveyor screw 61 disposed along the bottom-of the bin and passing through the end wall and trough, is of suflicient length to extend beyond the end of the trough and into the extrusion chamber. Suchconveyor screw is provided with a stub shaft 63 at its other endwhich passes through a bearing 65 in the opposite wall 67 05 the bin and carries a sprocket 69-which may be driven by a chain 70 from any suitable source of power. v

A cover 71 on the trough provides for exposure of" that portion of the screw conveyor passing through the trough, whereby difficulties encountered in the forcing ofmaterial through the trough to the extrusion cliamben may be remedied.

To assure against packing of 'the material -inthe bin] to the point Where it does not feed smoothly to the con veyor screw, one or more agitators 73; might W ably mounted between the end walls of the bin and provided with associated sprockets 75, 77 externally of the bin and on the same side as the drive sprocket 69 of the conveyor screw. The sprockets may be coupled by a chain 79 and power applied thereto by means of a gear 81 axially aflixed to the sprocket 77 and meshing with a pinion 83 on the shaft of the screw conveyor. A motor 85 could supply the power for driving the screw conveyor and agitators, and this might be mounted on a wall of the bin. Any suitable feeder speed regulator 87 might be interposed between the motor and the sprocket chain 70 whereby the drive connection between the motor and the bin elements can be made adjustable to fit the requirements of the mill.

Material fed to the extrusion chamber, is extruded through the die by the action of the roller with respect to the die, and the material as it emerges from the die may be severed or fractured into pellets of uniform size by the provision of a pellet knife 89 supported adjacent the discharge surface of the die on a stem 91 passing through a boss 93 on the wall of the cover.

An opening in the pellet chamber cover in line with such knife, permits observation of the same and access thereto for servicing when need be. Such opening may be normally closed by a cover 93 pivotally attached to the pellet chamber cover.

The construtcion of the mill and bin assembly is such as to permit of the same being manufactured to small size sufiicient to allow for the mounting of these devices on a bench or table 95, the bin, like the mill, being provided with suitable mounting flanges 97. When so mounted, the mill may be driven from a motor 99 supported by a bracket from beneath the bench or table and drive connected to the mill by a suitable pulley and belt arrangement 101.

Pellets emerging from the discharge opening 25 of the pellet chamber may be caused to fall through an aligned opening 102 in the table top, to be deposited in a bag or receptacle disposed beneath.

Inasmuch as one may have occasion to disassociate the bin and its feed screw from the mill, this may readily be accomplished by unbolting the same and because of its small size, it can be removed from its association with the mill merely by pulling the same away from the mill sufficiently to remove the feed screw from the feed openmg.

In lieu of bolting the bin at four corners thereof to the bench or table top, it need be bolted at the drive end only, thus requiring but two bolts. In such case, the opposite end of the bin may be provided with a pair of ball bearing casters which will facilitate moving of the bin following removal of the two anchoring bolts.

From the foregoing description of my invention in its preferred form, it will be apparent that the same is subject to alteration and modification without departing from the underlying principles involved, and I accordingly, do not desire to be limited in my protection to the specific details illustrated and described except as may be necessitated by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An extrusion mill assembly adapted for table mounting capable of use in the formation of pellets comprising a die shaft housing terminating at one end in an outwardly directed flange, base brackets supporting said die shaft housing for mounting the same on such table, a die shaft passing axially through said shaft housing, spaced bearings in said shaft housing supporting said die shaft, a cylindrical die aifixed to one end of said die shaft adjacent said outwardly directed flange to form an extrusion chamber, means at the opposite end of said shaft and externally of said shaft housing for driving the same, a cover aflixed to said flange and enclosing said die, to

----fQrm around said die, a Pellet chamber, Said cover in'gwra feed opening to said extrusion chamber, means for 4 feeding material through said feed opening to said extrusion chamber for extrusion through said die, said means including a supply bin adapted for table mounting and having mounting flanges and an end wall, a trough aflixed at one end to said end wall at an elevation above said mounting flanges corresponding to the elevation of said feed opening above said base bracket, a conveyor screw passing through said end wall and trough, means for driving said conveyor screw, and means for immobilizing said bin on such table in common with said shaft housing, and with said conveyor screw extending into said feed opening, said conveyor screw and trough being unsecured to said mill whereby upon removal of said immobilizing means, said bin and conveyor screw may he slid along such table to disassociate the same from the remainder of said extrusion mill assembly.

2. An extrusion mill assembly adapted for table mounting and capable of use in the formaiton of pellets comprising a substantially cylindrical die shaft housing terminating at one end in an outwardly directed flange, base brackets supporting said cylindrical die shaft housing for mounting the same on such table, a die shaft passing axially through said shaft housing, spaced bearings in said shaft housing supporting said die shaft, a cylindrical die afiixed to one end of said die shaft adjacent said outwardly directed flange to form an extrusion chamber, means at the opposite end of said shaft and externally of said shaft housing for driving the same, a cover afiixed to said flange and enclosing said die, to form around said die, a pellet chamber, said cover having a roller shaft housing extending therefrom in offset relationship to the axis of said extrusion chamber, and a feed opening adjacent said roller shaft housing, means for feeding material through said feed opening to said extrusion chamber for extrusion through said die, said means including a supply bin adapted for table mounting and having mounting flanges and an end wall, a trough affixed at one end to said end wall at an elevation above said mounting flanges corresponding to the elevation of said feed opening above said base brackets, a conveyor screw passing through said end wall and trough, means for driving said conveyor screw, and means for immobilizing said bin on such table in common with said shaft housing, and with said conveyor screw extending into said feed opening, said conveyor screw and trough being unsecured to said mill whereby upon removal of said immobilizing means, said bin and conveyor screw may he slid along such table to disassociate the same from the remainder of said extrusion mill assembly.

3. An extrusion mill assembly adapted for table mounting and capable of use in the formation of pellets comprising a table, a substantially cylindrical die shaft housing terminating at one end in an outwardly directed flange, base brackets supporting said cylindrical die shaft housing for mounting the same on said table, a die shaft passing axially through said shaft housing, spaced bearings in said shaft housing supporting said die shaft, a cylindrical die aflixed to one end of said die shaft adjacent said outwardly directed flange to form an extrusion chamber, means at the opposite end of said shaft and externally of said shaft housing for driving the same, a cover affixed to said flange and enclosing said die, to form around said die, a pellet chamber, said cover having a roller shaft housing extending therefrom in oflset relationship to the axis of said extrusion chamber, a feed opening adjacent said roller shaft housing, and a discharge opening at its lower end, means for feeding material through said feed opening to said extrusion chamber for extrusion through said die, said means including a supply bin adapted for table mounting and having mounting flanges and an end wall, a trough affixed at one end to said end wall at an elevation above said table corresponding to the elevation of said feed opening above said table, a conveyor screw passing through said end wall and trough, means for driving said conveyor screw, and means for immobilizing said bin on said table and with said conveyor screw extending into said feed opening, said conveyor screw and trough being unsecured to said mill whereby upon removal of said immobilizing 5 means, said bin and conveyor screw may be slid along such table to disassociate the same from the remainder of said extrusion mill assembly, said table having a hole therethrough below the discharge opening of said pellet References Cited in the file of this patent chamber, to provide for discharge of pellets into a re- 10 2,818,790

ceptacle beneath said table.

UNITED STATES PATENTS Hund Oct. 14, Meakin Dec. 7, Meakin Dec. 25, Perla Ian. 20, Faith-ell Jan. 15, Marshall Oct. 23, Canfield Jan. 7, 

